Delhi Government has decided to cancel all the university examinations including those of the final year for the Delhi State-run universities. The decision will apply to all final-year as well as other semester examinations in the universities run by Delhi Government. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that assessment will be based on internal assessment and previous examinations.
Final year exams cancelled
The Delhi Government on Saturday announced that all exams in state-run universities will be canceled. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said: “Throughout this whole semester there were minimal studies. All laboratories and other such facilities were closed. We believe that it is difficult to conduct exams when regular classes have not been held. Delhi Government has decided to cancel all final-year and semester examinations for all semesters in state-run universities.”
He also stated, “It has been decided to cancel all forthcoming semester and finals exams of universities under it due to the COVID-19 situation”. The cancellation of exams has a great impact on the other universities such as Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Ambedkar University, and others would not be conducting exams for the final year students. Students must note that none of the central Universities has canceled their exams.
The Delhi government has asked all the state universities to evaluate students according to their previous academic record or come up with a progressive plan to grade students. Sisodia said even though it was not possible to conduct final year examinations, providing degrees to students for jobs and future academic pursuits was necessary.
“We have asked the universities to cancel final year exams and come out with some formula of evaluation for awarding degrees,” he said.
Sisodia also hoped that the prime minister will take cognizance of the chief minister’s request to cancel exams of all central universities across the country and soon issue some direction. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had written to the central government for similar decisions to be announced for central universities.
“For the sake of our youth, I urge Hon’ble PM to personally intervene and cancel the final year exam of DU and other central govt universities and save the future,” CM Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Kejriwal’s plea to PM comes few hours after Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia announced the cancellation of all state university exams, including final year exam due to the coronavirus disease outbreak which has adversely affected the functioning of schools and colleges across the world.
The minister added that degrees will be awarded to students on the basis of evaluation parameters decided by the universities.
All the students in Delhi state universities will be promoted to next semesters and the final year students can award their degree basis their past performance,” Sisodia said.
What about other central universities?
University Grants Commission, UGC on Wednesday released the latest guidelines allowing the varsities to conduct exams across the country in September. However, the decision did not go well with many educationists and students who were demanding the cancellation of final year university exams due to the health risks posed. On Thursday, teachers from DU, MU, and JNU among others wrote to UGC Chairman regarding cancellation of exams and evaluation of students on previous performance.
The letter was written by the former University Grants Commission chairman Sukhdeo Thorat and was signed by 27 professors from Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Hyderabad, University of Mumbai, Tata Institute of Social Sciences and others.
The deputy chief minister who is also Delhi’s Education Minister said studies in the universities were disrupted due to the pandemic, and it was not possible to conduct examinations. Delhi government order comes in contrast to the University Grants Commission’s order, earlier in the month that mandated all institutions to conduct their final year and final semester exam at the end of September, not before that. UGC clarified that its decision not to scrap the final semester and final year exams is based on academic prudence and the need for maintaining credibility.
Previous decision- Open Book Exams
Dean Examinations Vinay Gupta first floated the idea of holding open book exams (OBE) for final year/semester students of DU in a notification dated May 14. At that stage, however, the decision was tentative as the university said it would hold OBE “in case the situation does not appear to be normal in view of COVID-19”. In a letter to Deans of all departments on the same day, Gupta explained that as part of OBE, students would be able to refer to books, notes, and other study materials to answer questions, sitting at home. The fact that DU had decided to go ahead with holding OBE was confirmed two weeks later, when the university released detailed guidelines on the conduct of OBE examinations on May 30. A tentative datasheet was put out stating the exams would begin on July 1. According to the guidelines, students would get a total of three hours – two hours for downloading and appearing for the paper and an additional one hour for uploading the answer sheets. The guidelines also stated that for those lacking internet and infrastructural facilities, DU would engage the Common Service Centers (CSC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The university also said that students who aren’t able to give the exams remotely will be allowed to sit for physical exams “as and when the present situation improves”.
Lots were measured were taken to conduct the exams but due to the diverse effect of the pandemic COVID-19, the final year exams were called off. Lakhs of students are now relieved from the burden of exams.
